Sixers praise Matisse Thybulle for all-around effort in win over Wizards
While the Philadelphia 76ers are still processing the news of Joel Embiid leaving their win on Friday after hyperextending his knee, the team did come up with a win over the Washington Wizards. It was their first road win over the Wizards since November of 2013 so it still counts for something.
A big reason for the win was the all-around play of Matisse Thybulle. He earned another start in place of Ben Simmons who is still in the league’s health and safety protocols and he played well on both ends.
He defended Wizards star Bradley Beal fairly well as he was a big reason why Beal only scored 19 points. He shot 8-for-13, but he did not get many opportunities to even touch the ball against Thybulle. For those who forgot, Beal scored 60 points in his last game against the Sixers.
“We trapped him a lot more,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We didn’t trap him much in that first game and I thought the adjustment of trapping him, we started Matisse on him. We didn’t start Ben on him in the last game, we were gonna wait, we started with our best defender on him at the beginning of the game.”
Then, on the offensive end of the floor, he had eight points on 4-for-6 shooting. He did not attempt any triples, but he was still active and looking for his shot. He was also finishing better around the basket going up for dunks instead of layups. That is a big deal.
“He’s making shots, he’s aggressive, you’re really seeing him get into this flow and his rhythm,” said Tobias Harris. “He started the season off had a nagging injury, which I think was slowing down a little bit, but now you see them at full health, full speed, and full confidence so exactly what we need from him. Especially as we’re approaching the second half of the year and playoff so sky’s the limit. Always has been for him and he just got to keep on going.”
The one bad spot on Thybulle’s stat line is that he did pick up four fouls. That is something that he still struggles with as he continues his development as a young player in this league.
“He’s very active,” said veteran Danny Green. “We know what he can do the defensive end on the floor and that leads to his offense…I think the biggest thing is staying out of foul trouble, but because he’s so aggressive, so active. I’m okay with his mistakes.”
As the Sixers move forward, it is clear that Thybulle will continue to play a huge role on this team. He just has to continue to grow and develop while staying out of foul trouble.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
